LOST TOYS-THEN-PROLIFERATION OF BUNNIES

I have a fairly nice size collection of toy bunnies. I have only been collecting them since, maybe the late 1980's. I do not care for Teddy Bears, I always preferred Soft Bunnies. Although, I never had one, because they were cartooned. Like the comics at the movies. Bleh.
When I was a girl, I wasn't very attracted to soft stuffed toy animals . Dolls were my main interest.
Besides, we had real dogs, even if they had to stay outside. We always spent time with them. My Grandma had horses and cows. They were her pets. My cousins had cats.
Then there were deer, and rabbits in the wild.
I just didn't think of them in an anthropomorphic way. Except for the cartoon characters.
But, as a child I only had a plush sleepy face doll. And a small Scotty dog, I named 'Plaid Ears', because the ears were faced with a red tartan plaid.
My older brother had a teddy bear and a Scotty dog toy too. He had his first. That's why I 'had' to have a Scotty too. Bud and I both were rather attached to our soft toys. More so, because we each only had two.
I remember, one day, we both started looking for our toys. We looked and looked. Neither of us could find our toys. First thing, Bud asked me if I had been playing with his two. I said, 'no'. Are you sure?. Yes. I can't find mine either. So, we went to Mom and asked her if she could give us any idea where we may have left our toys. She gave us both a sort of sideways look. Kind of pursed her lips. Looked away, glanced back. Then she said, 'I was hoping maybe you would forget about them'.
'What?' "Why?".
Well, you see, that summer, Bud and I both caught Chicken pox. We got it from the Schneider kids, who came to see us, while they were still contagious!!!! Good grief, Mom said, "get out of here, you know better than that!!!"
Well, yep. Bud and I became sick. WE played with and cuddled our soft toys, while we were in bed. For comfort. When we were well, Mom just sort of whisked them away and we didn't notice. So, one day when we were in school, Mom put them in the firebox on the cookstove, because she was afraid of germs. Now days we could have given them a heavy spray of Lysol or other disinfectant.
Bud and I were aghast, saddened and dismayed at that announcement. What for we asked? Because I was afraid of germs on them and they may have held contamination and pass on the chicken pox.
Oh! my! But, it still hurt that we had lost our cherished toys. Neither of us asked for soft toys again. You know, after that It was hard for me to see that stove, because, to me, it was my toys' crematoria.
Although a few years later, I used my allowance to buy a big toy dog. I still have him.
When I became an adult and had my own money, I began collecting soft toys. Because, I missed having animals around. I lived in a city. But, that is another story.
*********************************************************************************************** Here is a pic. of three of my Bunnie Girls. They are around 10" tall each.